祝日 / Permanent Vacation
d e v o n
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
tannertan36
Kiana Khansmith
shark vs the universe
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if i look back, i am lost
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Monterey Bay Aquarium
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Aqua Utopia｜海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
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we're not kids anymore.
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titsay
DEAR READER
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@kiuarproject-blog
Pit (Wingless) - Pit suffers the mortal injury of losing his wings after exceeding the limits of the power of flight to rescue Dark Pit from deep within the Chaos Vortex. Almost reunited with Palutena after three years, fate keeps them apart.
As previously stated, these cards could be punched out of the back page in the Japanese strategy guide book. I’ll get some photos from the book to post here too.
Pit (Revived) - Pit after the recovery of his wings in the Rewind Spring. To transport him there, Dark Pit has to first fly through the Underworld, finding the spring, which allows Palutena to transport Pit to that very same spot.
As previously established, these two cards came with the first run of the 3 disc edition game soundtrack in Japan. I’ll post some scans and photos of the soundtrack set itself later.
Reposting these to get the right tags on them. These are of course the foil wrapper from the Series 1 and 2 booster packs, available at store events (GameStop, Best Buy, etc.) and gamer conventions (PAX, E3, etc.), and the card that came with the three AR cards from the Club Nintendo give-away.
I promised myself I would hold off on posting the following until I had all the cards scanned and posted, because I figured that would be sufficient for any kind of statute of limitations on discussing this publicly. It still took longer than I was really expecting or hoping, but here we are at last:
As I write this it is late December 2012, I just had a 40 minute talk on the phone with two people from Enterplay. They make trading cards and Nintendo has offered them and/or they have accepted the license for the Kid Icarus cards. They found me on eBay, they claim to have contacted a few of the active card sellers there, I think I may be the first one they have actually spoken to. I checked this out before the call, and found a very small trail of references leading back to their facebook fan page, which states "Kid Icarus AR Cards are coming soon from Enterplay! No details yet, but Q1 2013" and "Is anybody here a huge Kid Icarus fan that knows a lot about the AR cards?"
They mentioned that Nintendo had initially planned on offering them themselves and it didn't really work out. (No kidding.) They asked if I just sold them or was collecting, I explained I was selling my duplicates but have a set to keep. I did not mention scanning them and putting them online. They knew virtually nothing about the game or the cards (good job Nintendo!), so I stepped them through what the cards actually do, and what they give you. I.e. 100 hearts per initial scan, plus a Treasure Hunt accomplishment if you get all 402 idols, but 100 hearts isn't much, finishing the Treasure Hunt doesn't really gain you anything beyond bragging rights, and plenty of players just run through the levels and don't bother doing every little collectible or accomplishment in the game. I also explained how the 402 are available via in-game mechanism anyway but there are also 10 or so additional idols that can only be gotten via card scan (only three of which were released here, but some of the others were out overseas and photos could be found online), and the amusing but mostly pointless card battles. They seemed especially interested in the fact that having the cards does not affect or add to the actual gameplay at all. They asked what the significance of the cards was to me, I told them I liked the artwork and saw the in-game stuff mostly as a bonus. I freely editorialized that Nintendo clearly was trying to do more with the AR since it is underutilized in the 3DS library, but could only work it into Kid Icarus as a side thing of little importance, and had hyped it prior to release beyond what it really turned out to be.
They asked what I would expect to pay for the cards in a store, I told them I figured it would be in line with the other baseball/CCG/trading/etc. cards, $3-5 for a pack of 10, and they told me I was essentially correct about that. They asked would I pay more if there were, say, 15 cards in a pack instead of 10. I said sure, that's fair. They asked how hard it is for one currently to get the full set. I explained the distribution, the thriving secondary market of people flipping booster packs from conventions, the tournament prize box set, that some of the cards had been exclusives from give-aways or in magazines, and the pack-in set of 20, and especially the horrors of Three Sacred Treasures. (I left out that I'd finally broken down and sprung for one myself, as it turned out as the going price for them was on the decline but not quite at the bottom yet.)
They confirmed what I expected, they would just be selling the same cards we've already seen (there's clearly none left in the game to be had other than the remaining ones in the 403-412 range). They did ask what I thought their sales potentials were and I told them the truth, this sort of thing is usually released alongside the game, and here we are now almost a year after release. All the serious collectors already have their sets, other people that may have bought them if the cards had been easily available early on may not care anymore, lots of players finish the game and then put it away and never play it again or even sell it at GameStop.
I never said this straight out, but if they are smart they will stay away from this. The window of opportunity is long gone and the selling points as far as "they help you in the game" that Nintendo once implied are in reality non-existent. Come to think of it, that selling point died the day the game was released and we all found out what a fraud the card features were. The best time to have been selling these would have been in the two or three months before the game release when they still held some mystique. It's all part of Nintendo's ongoing fail with these cards that it took them until now to offer then to Enterplay, much less that they didn't do so in the first place.
Of course, I've held off on posting this until now in March 2015 when I write this final paragraph, and it's no longer speculation, they did in fact give it a pass. The number of games that use the original AR cards, their own AR cards or booklet, or any AR function at all, remains pitifully small. I do sympathize that AR is kind of a difficult thing to integrate into a game, especially if you are trying to keep it "optional". Much like the 3D itself, since all 3DS games are required to be workable in 2D in case you want to turn the 3DS off or have the parental controls up, not to mention the actual 2DS system. It's still a general hardware update to the DS and DSi, but major hyped features just fail to be used to their potential. Nintendo still hasn't even released one Virtual Boy game to the 3DS eShop virtual console selection, which should have been a dead obvious move. One does have to wonder if an Enterplay release would have given us better access to the rare cards, maybe even the unreleased cards, or if Nintendo would have still kept those back. Even with that though, the reasons I gave for this being a bad idea for Enterplay would still have been valid.
Anyhow, as previously mentioned, I've got those last two Japanese post-402 AR cards on the way, so I can have them in-hand rather than just somebody else's photograph. In fact the Japanese guide book just arrived today. I’m going to compare it to the American version and will share anything cool that only the Japanese version has. Once the soundtrack set is here I will scan and repost those cards. Then as the last official act of this project I will compile some zip files of everything and post them somewhere for downloading. I think I’ll work on a proper index/card list page as well. After that, we'll see, but maybe I can keep this thing going for a bit by finding stuff to reblog.
Since this will be the last of the relevant (mostly) daily posts though, I want to take the opportunity to say you've been a great crowd, and thanks for all the likes, follows, reblogs, messages, and help.
Medusa (Rare) - Hades reconstructed Medusa from countless souls woven around a core of pure hatred for Palutena. Oblivious to the true cause of her resurrection, Medusa sets out to take revenge and conquer the three worlds completely.
Pit (Victory) - After Hades's ultimate destruction, Pit's exclamation of "Victory!" isn't inspired by the thrill of defeating his nemesis or the gratitude he feels for Palutena. Rather, it is a spontaneous expression of joy and relief.
These should be the last two cards, except they were never released. Not even in Japan. Not even a leaked jpeg online. Thanks, Nintendo! Somebody clever hacked a save file to reveal what the idols look like. So enjoy, because you'll never have them on your own copy of the game.
Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm1kUz_Ia2Y https://tcrf.net/Kid_Icarus:_Uprising
And with that, we really are done with the cards and idols. (Except for those two cards that I'm going to repost when they arrive from Japan.) I'm not quite finished though, so stick around.
Kid Icarus Float - On August 4th, 2011, this float made its debut during a summer festival in the Aomori Prefecture of Japan. Reaching a height of almost 40 feet and weighing five tons, this float awed spectators with its depiction of Pit and Palutena.
The hearsay on this one is "In Japan, you had to go to a certain store in Tokyo on a certain day to get it. First come first serve." Anyway, articles and photos about the real thing are easily found: http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/1lcyv0/kid-icarus--uprising-japanese-float-construction http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/27496/japan-eshop-round-up-08172011 http://www.zeldainformer.com/news/post http://www.famitsu.com/news/201108/05048004.html https://teengamingstudios.wordpress.com/2011/08/06/kid-icarus-float/ http://www.3dsthailand.com/forums/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=3712
Pit (Revived) - Pit after the recovery of his wings in the Rewind Spring. To transport him there, Dark Pit has to first fly through the Underworld, finding the spring, which allows Palutena to transport Pit to that very same spot.
I’ve got these images, and that’s all I know. Nothing turned up on what location or event in Japan this was available from.
This card actually came in my Uprising soundtrack from Japan. It also had a Japanese Daybreak card with it if I’m not mistaken, because I’ve got a Japanese Daybreak and it didn’t come with my Figma so it had to have come from the soundtrack. The Pit Revived definitely came with the soundtrack, of that I’m certain.
This is the one: http://www.amazon.com/Icarus-Uprising-Extended-3-CD-Soundtrack/dp/B00AFKGNBU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426044385&sr=8-1&keywords=kid+icarus+soundtrack+cd
Ah, that’s excellent. Thank you. Once again, had I known, I would have bought one ages ago. Fortunately there are still some around. According to the Japanese Amazon, the cards only came with the first printing of that (of course) but some folks on eBay have them even now. I think a gold sticker on the upper right designates a first print version.
So, I just ordered one. I’ll finish things out this week like I planned, but once the strategy guide and soundtrack arrive, I will spin up the scanner one last time and repost those cards. Given cross-Pacific shipping, it may be several weeks.
At that point I will also pull together some zip files of all my scans and put them somewhere for folks to download directly.
Pit (Revived) - Pit after the recovery of his wings in the Rewind Spring. To transport him there, Dark Pit has to first fly through the Underworld, finding the spring, which allows Palutena to transport Pit to that very same spot.
I've got these images, and that's all I know. Nothing turned up on what location or event in Japan this was available from.
Magnus and Gaol - Years ago, Magnus and Gaol were friendly rivals, often working together as mercenaries, each competing to steal the other's glory. Dyntos gives them a chance to fight together again, testing Pit on his way to battle Hades.
Both video game programmers and toy makers like to reuse a model by simply changing the color scheme and calling it a different guy. So Figma #176 Dark Pit came as no surprise and was released with this card, which takes second billing to the Dark Pit (Flying) card but for us is the true bonus.
Pit (Injured) - Hades shatters the Great Sacred Treasure with one vicious clap. Pit takes the brunt of the damage, unable to rise and fight. Yet just as Hades moves to strike the final blow, an unlikely ally appears.
This card, along with Monoeye, came included with Figma #175 Pit. Figma is a line of action figures made by Max Factory/Good Smile Company. They do characters from all over anime and other Japanese pop culture. Other Nintendo Figma releases have included Link and Samus Aran, plus an upcoming Lucina (from Fire Emblem). I probably would have bought it anyway, but the card made it a must-have.
Pit (Wingless) - Pit suffers the mortal injury of losing his wings after exceeding the limits of the power of flight to rescue Dark Pit from deep within the Chaos Vortex. Almost reunited with Palutena after three years, fate keeps them apart.
Somebody posted a scan of this on the internet years ago, and I thought little further of it until now. Turns out it's from the Japanese strategy guide book. It's not even a proper card, really, it's a perforated punch-out from a cardboard page in the back of the book, along with Chaos Vortex, Aurum Pyrrhon, and Lightning Chariot. I managed to find an image of the European version (don't know if that was in normal circulation or an exclusive somewhere) and some more photos of the Japanese one.
I broke down and ordered the book, it's only available in the secondary market now but supposedly the one I'm getting still has its cards. I'll get a proper scan of it later. Who knows, maybe the book itself has some official artwork in it that's missing from the American Prima release.
Dark Pit (Flying) - Being Pit's copy, Dark Pit was originally incapable of flight. However, he gains the ability when he absorbs Pandora's remaining power into his wings. And while he may not need help flying, he still shares a bond with his counterpart.
If you bought the Prima Strategy Guide for the game early on, you could get a pack of three cards that included this one. Curiously, the other two in that pack also turned up later on in the Series 2 packs, the only cards from an "exclusive" set to be available from a second source.
This is the final post-402 card to be released in the North American market. However, we are not yet at the end!
Palutena (Rare) - Despite her reputation for wisdom and mercy, little is known about the history and motivations behind the goddess Palutena. What she lacks in military might, she makes up for in her brave champion, Pit.
In addition to the magazine cards, Club Nintendo members could order another three pack of exclusive cards from the club website for free. Our second post-402 card was one of those.
It's lame that they couldn't come up with a better title than "Rare".
Pit (Rally Cry) - Pit strikes this pose when trying to look cool, especially when yelling at Underworld fiends. He put so much time into creating it, even bosses are supportive of the effort.
Back at game launch, along with the Series 1 packets getting handed out at conventions and store events, select magazines that month had some exclusive cards of their own. The first of our post-402 cards was one of three cards that came along with Best Buy's in-house gamer news magazine.
Final Battleground - The site of the final battle between Pit and Hades. Beginning in the depths of the Underworld and ending in the Overworld, this climactic clash drives our hero to the breaking point. But when the curtain falls, Pit is victorious. At this point, when you've gotten the 402 idols, either by scanning cards or with the egg toss game, the game will congratulate you having the entire set. Well, it is all the idols you can collect from the game on its own, but it's not quite all there are. There's a few more cards yet to scan, and I'll have them and their stories here next.
Just as a reminder, the overall card lists for the North America releases can be seen in a couple of posts across these tags: #series 1, #series 2
Dyntos's Workshop - The stronghold and workshop of Dyntos, the god of the forge. A variety of items are produced here, from weapons to vehicles. It's divided into red, green, and blue areas that can be reconfigured to meet a variety of needs.
Hades's Belly - Though called Hades's Belly, this strange place is in an entirely different dimension than Hades. So while it shares a link of sorts with the evil god, it seems that destruction inside the belly barely affects Hades himself.
